AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF FRANCIS ARAGO. 151 



result was true. The professor, who had only this result whereby to 

 judge of the goodness of the answer, when he saw it appear on the board, 

 did not hesitate to call out, '' Good, good, perfectly good!" Mhich excited 

 shouts of laughter on all the benches of the amidiitheater. 



When a professor has lost consideration, without which it is impossible 

 for him to do well, they allow themselves to insult him to an incredible 

 extent. Of this I will cite a single specimen. 



A pupi>, M. Leboullenger, met one evening in company' this same M 

 Hassenfratz, and had a discussion with him. When he reentered the 

 school in the morning, he mentioned this circumstance to us. "Be on 

 your guard," said one of our comrades to him; "you will be interrogated 

 this evening. Play with caution, for the professor has certainly pre- 

 pared some great difficulties so as to cause laughter at your expense." 



Our anticipations were not mistaken. Scarcely had the pupils arrived 

 in the amphitheater, when M. Hassenfratz called to M. Leboullenger, 

 who came to the board. 



"M. Leboullenger," said the professor to him, "you have seen the 

 moon?" "ISTo, sir." "How, sir! you say that you have never seen tho 

 moon"?" "I can only repeat ray answer — no, sir." Beside himself, and 

 seeing his prey escape him, by means of this unexpected answer, M. 

 HassenlTatz addressed himself to the inspector charged with the observ- 

 ance of order that day, and said to him, " Sir, there is M. Leboullenger, 

 who pretends never to have seen the moon." "What would you wish 

 me to do?" stoically replied M. Le Brun. Repulsed on this side, the pro- 

 fessor turned once more toward M. Leboullenger, who remained calm 

 and earnest in the midst of the unspeakable amusement of the whole 

 amphitheater, and cried out with undisguised auger, "Yoii persist in 

 maintaining that you have never seen the moon?" "Sir," returned the 

 pupil, " I should deceive you if I told you that I had not heard it spoken 

 of, but I have never seen it." "Sir, return to your place." 



After this scene, M. Hassenfratz was but a professor in name ; his 

 teaching could not longer be of any use. 



At the commencement of the second year I was appointed '■^clief dc 

 IrigadeP Hatchette had been professor of hydrography at Collioure ; 

 Ids friends from Eoussillon recommended me to him. He received me 

 with great kindness, and even gave me a room in his lodgings. It was 

 there that I had the pleasure of making Poisson's acquaintance, who 

 lived next to us. Every evening the great geometer entered my room, 

 and we passed entire hours in conversing on politics and mathematics, 

 which is certainly not quite the same thing. 



In the course of ISOI the school was a prey to political passions, and 

 that through the fault of the government. 



They wished forthwith to oblige the pupils to sign an address of con- 

 gratulation on the discovery of the conspiracy in which Moreau was 

 implicated. They refused to do so on the ground that it was not for 

 them to pronounce on a cause which had been in tlie hands ^- justice. 



